Premiere: Yoshinori Hayashi – Square Sun

Experimenting with detuned melody and a fluid approach to structure, Yoshinori Hayashi seems unconcerned about the way people perceive his music. Outlining his feelings towards the matter in a recent interview, whether incorporating elements jazz, house and ambient, the Tokyo-based producer puts it on the DJs to determine whether his music is suited to the danceflooor. Arriving soon via nascent label Gravity Graffiti, Hayashi’s first outing of 2017 is a split 12″ alongside newcomer DB.Source, offering similarly avant-garde excursions to those found across his solo efforts.

‘Square Sun’ is built on unsteady ground, all unpredictable and misshapen as the track unravels over its 10 minute duration. Fractured, with dissonant strings and otherworldly hues, the introduction of gentle pads feels like a release of sonic tension that had been building gradually. Birdsong, general jungle ambience and the delicate plink and plonk of muffled keys are interspersed throughout, but every beautiful moment feels as if it’s underpinned by something oddly unnerving. It takes until the final 3 minutes to have any semblance of structure as the composite elements chime together in captivating dis-harmony, bringing one of Hayashi’s more abstract meditations to a close in mystifying fashion.

GRA003 is out January 30th on Gravity Graffiti – pre-order the vinyl here.